Mariners to appear on open-top bus at Summer Parade

For the second year running, South Shields FC is to be part of the South Tyneside Festival Summer Parade this Saturday.

Players and staff will board an open-top bus to celebrate the club’s achievements in the 2017-18 season, which included winning a third consecutive promotion and title.

They will parade the Evo-Stik North Division trophy, with joint managers Lee Picton and Graham Fenton to join a host of players and staff on the bus.

The parade will begin at South Shields Town Hall at 1pm and head along Fowler Street, passing South Shields Museum on Ocean Road and on to the seafront, where the fun will continue all afternoon at Bents Park.

The club was also involved in the parade last year, when thousands of people lined the streets of South Shields and cheered the Mariners after their historic quadruple-winning campaign.

Another trophy will be on show this time around, and chairman Geoff Thompson has thanked South Tyneside Council and the organisers of the event for extending an invitation to the club again.

He said: “It’s a real honour for the club to again be involved in the summer parade.

“It was such a humbling experience to be part of it last year, and we’re hugely grateful to have been invited again.

“This event gives us a real opportunity to thank all of our magnificent supporters for the backing they gave us last season, and to see them again ahead of what should be another exciting campaign.

“We’d like to say a huge thanks to South Tyneside Council and all those involved in the event for inviting us again.”

This year’s South Tyneside Festival Summer Parade is based around the theme of Monsters, Myths and Magic.

About 2,000 people from across the area will be joining professional carnival artists in the parade, again under the artistic direction of the talented team at Creative Seed.